Repair Is Still An Option

February 07, 1992

At no time in his state of the state speech Wednesday did Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. talk about the income tax by name. At no time did he utter the word "repair," or speak even in generalities of that concept, which is aimed at simplifying the state tax on wages, removing some of the glitches and making it more equitable by giving middle-income earners relief at the expense of the wealthy.

So, is repair a non-issue as far as the governor is concerned?

Would he rather the Legislature not open the income-tax debate again even if it should lead to a fairer tax? It seems that's the case.

Mr. Weicker's omission was calculated, he explained later. "We have a tax, and it's working. I wanted to focus on spending." The Legislature can raise the repair issue if it wishes, the governor said at a briefing, "but I'm not going to say what I would do or not do" if a bill tinkering with the income tax reached his desk.

It's reasonable to speculate, however, that he would veto any repair bill that altered the new tax radically.

Surely the governor is right in wanting to concentrate on spending cuts to balance the 1992-93 budget and on creating jobs to make up for the more than 100,000 lost in recent years. Last year, a ,350new revenue system was put in place to ensure fiscal stability -- at great political cost. This is the year to put government on a diet.

But if repair of the income tax is put on hold in 1992, Mr. Weicker and the Legislature may be passing up an opportunity to make a good revenue system better.

The existing structure of the tax on wages puts a heavier burden on middle-class and upper-middle-class wage earners than on those earning, say, $150,000 a year or more. Shifting that burden would make the income tax more fair, and fairness should be a goal of any tax system.

Repair might also dissipate some of the anger at a tax system that, despite its critics, is an essential ingredient in Connecticut's economic recovery. The Legislature ought to be able to pass a modest repair plan without taking its eye off the most important items on the agenda -- spending cuts and stimulation of the economy.

The anti-income-tax forces hate the idea of repair because it

might make some voters forget about repeal. The repealers prevented a vote on repair proposals in the special session in December. They're divided on the issue now.

This much is certain: Those who would defeat or delay a repair bill would be sticking it to the middle class.